Russian Lawmakers Pass Ban on Adoptions to US

MOSCOW — The upper house of the Russian parliament unanimously approved a ban on adoptions to the United States on Wednesday. All eyes are now on the Kremlin as the bill goes to President Putin for his signature.

The ban was added last week to a broader bill retaliating for human rights sanctions signed by President Obama earlier this month. Putin has expressed support for the broader bill, which reciprocates the sanctions, but dodged questions last week about the adoption ban.

At stake are the cases of 46 Russian children whose adoptions would be frozen if the bill becomes law, according to Russia’s children’s ombudsman Pavel Astakhav. He said those children would receive priority to be adopted by Russian families.

The proposed ban has split Russian society. Outside the parliament at least seven people were detained while protesting the bill, according to RIA Novosti. Human rights advocates have urged Russian authorities not to move forward with the ban, saying it denies Russian orphans a home with a family.

It has also caused a rare division among the Russian government.

Several top officials, including Russia’s foreign minister and education minister have come out against the ban. A leaked memo from another top official suggested its passage would cause Russia to breach several international treaties, including a recently enacted adoption agreement between the United States and Russia.

"All eyes are opened, or opening to the rights of man, let the annual return of this day(July 4th), forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."Thomas JeffersonJune 1826

Plenty of US babies still need parents. Maybe this will reduce abortion in the US?

No, the much more likely outcome will be improvements and cost reductions for in vitro.

There are no crimes against people.
There are only crimes against the state.
And the state will never, ever choose to hold accountable its agents, because a thing can not commit a crime against itself.

The gvmt makes it very difficult to adopt a child. The exception is foster parents, who often take in many after jumping through the hoops and get paid by the head by the state for raising them. ie: it's a business and many get taken stolen by CPS and "given" to these foster homes.

Putin has not indicated he will sign the bill. This was in retaliation ironically to a Free Trade agreement between Russia and the US. The US Congress, during the aproval process of that deal, added a stipulation to deny visas for a handful of Russian government figures who were guilty in a bribery scandal. The lawyer who prosecuted them (and won) was later killed.

"I think we never get the candidate we exactly want unless you're the candidate." Rand Paul.

Putin has not indicated he will sign the bill. This was in retaliation ironically to a Free Trade agreement between Russia and the US. The US Congress, during the aproval process of that deal, added a stipulation to deny visas for a handful of Russian government figures who were guilty in a bribery scandal. The lawyer who prosecuted them (and won) was later killed.

The press is trying to sell it as retaliation, but in reality, this has been a long time coming. Russia has suspended adoptions recently, and they are not pleased with the US system. This was the last rift I heard of between the Russian and US govts over adoption, but there may have been others since. I haven't been paying close attention lately.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin signaled on Thursday he would sign a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children into law and sought to forestall criticism of the move by promising measures to better care for his country's orphans.

In televised comments, Putin tried to appeal to people's patriotism by suggesting that strong and responsible countries should take care of their own and lent his support to a bill that has further strained U.S.-Russia relations.

"There are probably many places in the world where living standards are higher than ours. So what, are we going to send all our children there? Maybe we should move there ourselves?" he said, with sarcasm.

I remember a time when hardly anyone in the U.S. would have stood for a poor, defenseless orphan being condemned to life in Russia because it was the world's bastion of socialist tyranny...

Originally Posted by The Rebel Poet

You talk of mountains and molehills; I find that ironic. To you, being called names for using unapproved speech is a "mountain," but Edward Snowden, the NSA, the War of Terror, higher taxes, racial profiling, government run healthcare and free housing are "molehills". That sort of confused misprioritazation is exactly what's wrong with Trump supporters.

Originally Posted by acptulsa

When your position is indefensible, a good offense becomes something more than 'the best defense'. It's the only defense.

When looking at the bigger picture, it's difficult to pretend this really is all for the children. Russia has been exporting orphans, and the outcome isn't always picture perfect. I don't blame them for rethinking the idea. Adoption, like any other social program, is outcome based, and outcomes can never be guaranteed.

'We endorse the idea of voluntarism; self-responsibility: Family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person. It's a preposterous notion: It never worked, it never will. The government can't make you a better person; it can't make you follow good habits.' - Ron Paul 1988